1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cutter assembly for an extruder for extruding twisted food pieces. More particularly, the present invention relates to an extruder cutter assembly, which includes an extrusion die having extrusion ports that are shaped to twist the food pieces when exiting the extrusion die.
2. Description of Background Art
Extruders for producing extruded food pieces are known. Such extruders can conventionally include a pressure vessel for containing, under pressure, a mash of the food to be extruded. Furthermore, pressure exerting means for maintaining pressure in the pressure vessel, a manifold in fluid communication with the pressure vessel, and a cutter assembly, generally located underneath the pressure vessel, in fluid communication with the manifold can be included. The extruder cutter assembly cuts the extruded food to size. An extruder of the above type is disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,043 to Hunter (hereinafter “the '043 patent”). The '043 patent is hereby incorporated by reference.
Food products that can be extruded in such extruders include, e.g., meats, poultry, seafood, cereal grains, vegetables, fruits, and solid dairy products. As specific examples, the mash may be prepared from beef, chicken, shrimp, wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, apples, and cheese.
The food is ground to a particle size consistent with forming a fluid mash, e.g., particle sizes that will pass through a U.S. Screen Series No. 5 screen, more usually a No. 10 screen, and often a No. 20 screen up to about a No. 100 screen.
Water or other dispersing liquids, e.g., 3% to 70%, may be added to the ground food in order to produce a liquid mash. Binders, flavors, preservatives, colors, stabilizers, antioxidants, and the like may be added to the mash, in conventional amounts. Most often, a gelling material is added to the mash, e.g., a settable gum or pectate, for example, guar gum and sodium alginate, in conventional amounts of about 0.1% to 25%. The gum or pectate is set by a gelling agent, e.g., a 0.5% to 10% solution of calcium chloride and sodium alginate.
In the '043 patent, an extruder cutter assembly extrudes a food piece in the shape of a natural food piece. The extruder cutter assembly includes an extrusion member and a tubular cutter member for cutting extrudate exiting the extrusion member. However, the '043 patent does not include a die having shaped extrusion ports that twist the food pieces when exiting the die as in the present invention.
The present inventor has also invented an extruder cutter assembly for extruding foodstuff containing a filling. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,511,309 and 6,964,562 (hereinafter “the '309 patent” and “the '562 patent”, respectively), an extruder cutter assembly includes a filling tube or passageway for extruding a filling along with the mash of food to form a filled food product. An extension is formed on the extrusion member and the cutter member to allow for the extrudate to exit the extruder cutter assembly from the side. This extension to the extrusion member and cutter member is similar to the present invention. However, the extruder cutter assembly in the '309 patent and the '562 patent does not include a die having shaped extrusion ports that twist the food pieces when exiting the die as in the present invention. The '309 patent and the '562 patent are hereby incorporated by reference.